Chapter 6 - Environmental sensors

Abstract

Water, air, and soil pollution, food contamination, chemical exposures, ultraviolet radiation, and climate change are all factors that lead to a variety of diseases and health problems around the world. Toxic gases, heavy metal ions, pesticides, and fertilizers, among other contaminants, play a significant role in environmental concerns. Careful monitoring and control of these environmental hazards are urgently needed, which necessitates the use of cutting-edge techniques of environmental sensors to detect distinct environmental contaminants in a highly sensitive manner. Environmental sensors are connected objects capable of providing various types of information: location, position, the individual’s movements, and contextual elements which can be compared to data collected via sensors embedded on or implanted in the individual, including the validation of alarms, like in the case of falls. Chemical durability and the highest available sensitivity and selectivity of the sensors are typically needed in these fields of application. Most of the traditional and commercially manufactured liquid and even solid-state sensors can only be used effectively in laboratory settings. Chalcogenide glass sensors, which have been developed in recent years, provide a promising solution to this issue. In this chapter, sensors-based chalcogenides for environmental monitoring in water, air, and land including heavy metals, pesticides, and extreme environmental conditions are presented including recommendations for further studies to be explored are also suggested.